awards & nominations

Rita O'Grady (Sally Hawkins) works for the Ford Motor Co. plant in Dagenham, England. Despite performing the specialized task of sewing upholstery for car seats, women are classified as unskilled labor and paid much less than men. Encouraged by a sympathetic union representative, Rita agrees to bring the women's grievances to Ford. The meeting goes badly and, outraged by the company's lack of respect for them, Rita leads her colleagues to strike.

"The Hours" is the story of three women searching for more potent, meaningful lives. Each is alive at a different time and place, all are linked by their yearnings and their fears. Their stories intertwine, and finally come together in a surprising, transcendent moment of shared recognition.

While studying at Oxford University in 1914, a young T.S. Eliot (Willem Dafoe) meets and is instantly smitten with Vivienne Haigh-Wood (Miranda Richardson). The two elope after a whirlwind romance, and it isn't until then that T.S. Eliot sees the darker side of his wife. Viv suffers from an extreme hormonal imbalance that causes wild mood swings and odd behavior. While she occasionally acts as a muse for the poet, her inconsistent behavior may prove too much for him to bear.

Irish Republican Army member Fergus (Stephen Rea) forms an unexpected bond with Jody (Forest Whitaker), a kidnapped British soldier in his custody, despite the warnings of fellow IRA members Jude (Miranda Richardson) and Maguire (Adrian Dunbar). Jody makes Fergus promise he'll visit his girlfriend, Dil (Jaye Davidson), in London, and when Fergus flees to the city, he seeks her out. Hounded by his former IRA colleagues, he finds himself increasingly drawn to the enigmatic, and surprising, Dil.

When married British women Rose Arbuthnot (Miranda Richardson) and Lottie Wilkins (Josie Lawrence) decide to take a break from their respective spouses, they stay at a castle in Italy for a quiet holiday. Joining the ladies is Caroline Dester (Polly Walker), a young socialite, and Mrs. Fisher (Joan Plowright), an older aristocrat. Liberated from their daily routines, the four women ease into life in rural Italy, and each finds herself transformed by the experience.

Golden Globe (1991)

Won

Best Performance By an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical